Republican Carl Paladino, aided by a 4 -1 margin among Tea Partiers, trails New York State
Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, the Democratic candidate for Governor, 49 - 43 percent
among likely voters, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

Only 18 percent of New York State likely voters consider themselves part of the Tea
Party movement, but they back Paladino 77 - 18 percent.

Cuomo leads 87 - 8 percent among Democrats while Paladino leads 83 - 13 percent
among Republicans and 49 - 43 percent among independent voters, the independent Quinnipiac
(KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University survey, conducted by live interviewers, finds. This first likely
voter general election survey in New York in this election cycle can not be compared with earlier
surveys of registered voters.

Women back Cuomo 54 - 34 percent, while men go 49 percent for Paladino and 46
percent for Cuomo.

Seven percent of voters remain undecided and 21 percent of those who name a candidate
say they might still change their mind.

New York State likely voters approve 67 - 25 percent of the job Cuomo is doing as
Attorney General and by 51 - 34 percent, they have a favorable opinion of him.

Paladino gets a 36 - 31 percent favorability and 31 percent of voters don't know enough
about him to form an opinion.

"The question was whether Carl Paladino would get a bounce from his big Republican
primary victory. The answer is yes. He's within shouting distance and - you can count on it - he
will be shouting," said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute.

"Attorney General Andrew Cuomo might be a victim of his own excess. Politicians and
polls have depicted him so relentlessly as a sure thing that he might be a victim of the 'throw the
bums out' attitude that hits incumbents in this angry year," Carroll added.

"In other Quinnipiac University polls, we have found that the shift from registered voters
to likely voters favors Republicans as more conservative voters are more energized to vote right
now."

When asked which quality matters most in picking a candidate for governor, 41 percent of
New York State likely voters want a candidate who "can bring about needed change to Albany."
Another 22 percent want someone who shares their values, while 21 percent want someone honest
and trustworthy and 10 percent want someone with the right experience.

"There's a Paladino plus: Forty percent of New Yorkers say the most important trait in a
candidate is that he'll 'bring change,'" Carroll said. "But there's a Paladino minus when we ask
about the Tea Party. Only 18 percent of voters identify with it."

From September 16 - 20, Quinnipiac University surveyed 751 New York State likely voters,
with a margin of error of +/- 3.6 percentage points.

The Quinnipiac University Poll, directed by Douglas Schwartz, Ph.D., conducts public
opinion surveys in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Florida, Ohio and
nationwide as a public service and for research.
For more data or RSS feed- http://www.quinnipiac.edu/polling.xml, call (203) 582-5201, or
follow us on Twitter.

1. If the election for governor were being held today, and the candidates were
Andrew Cuomo the Democrat and Carl Paladino the Republican, for whom would you
vote? (If undecided) If you had to choose today, would you vote for Cuomo or
Paladino? This table includes "Leaners".

10. Which one of these four qualities matter most in deciding how you vote for
Governor? The candidate is honest and trustworthy, has the right experience,
can bring about needed change to Albany or shares your values?